The drought of this year had caused a scarcity of the flour of the mandioc—the bread of Brazil—and the price was so high at Recife, Goiana, &c. that those persons of Rio Grande who possessed it, began to ship it off for other places; this the governor prohibited; he ordered it to be sold in the market-place, at a price equal to the gain the owners would have had by sending it away, and if all was not bought he took it himself, again giving it out when necessary at the same price. These anecdotes of him I had partly from himself, but principally from persons of the place, to whom I was introduced. When he left the city, on his appointment to St. Michael’s, the people followed him to some distance, praying for his prosperity.
CHAPTER VI.
CONTINUATION OF THE JOURNEY. FROM NATAL TO AÇU.
THE governor did all in his power to dissuade me from proceeding further, the drought being so great as to render it not quite prudent; but as I had come so far, I was resolved, at any rate, to make the attempt. If I had been certain of being able to undertake the journey at a future period, it would have been better to have returned, and to have waited until a more favourable season; but I am rejoiced that I went at that time, as, otherwise, I should most probably have been under the necessity of foregoing my plan altogether. Some of the disagreeable circumstances which I met with, certainly proceeded from the rigour of the season.
I received from the governor a letter of introduction to Aracati. He also insisted upon my leaving my own horse, that he might be in good condition when I returned. I was to sleep at a place from which Rio Grande is supplied with farinha during the drought; but, in usual years, it is too wet to be cultivated, unless it was drained, and of this operation scarcely any notions are entertained. At Natal, I purchased another horse. I crossed the river in a canoe, and the horses and men upon jangadas; we were landed upon the new raised road, and immediately beyond it overtook some persons who were going to the Lagoa Seca, or dry lake above-mentioned, where I was to purchase maize and farinha, for crossing the tract of country through which runs the river Seara-meirim. We left the usual road, and turned down a narrow path, which leads to this lake; it was overhung with trees. I struck my head against a branch of one of these, and found that I had disturbed a large family which had taken up its residence upon it; my shoulders were quickly covered with small red ants, and I did not get rid of them without feeling some of their bites. We arrived at the dry lake about six o’clock in the evening, and put up at one of the cottages. In the course of the following morning, I made known my principal errand, and that I likewise wished to purchase another horse. The people who were residing here, had removed from high lands which had on this season proved barren; they had erected small huts, some of which had not been finished, and the family, therefore, lived in public; these huts had only a roof to shelter their inhabitants, who expected that the first heavy rain would drive them back to their usual habitations, as these lands, after violent rains, are laid under water. Each man possessed his small field of mandioc and maize. I left John’s horse here in charge of one of these men, as it began to give way, and I proceeded with four loaded horses; two as before, and one of farinha, and another of maize. I had provided myself at Rio Grande with leathern bags, for carrying water, and several other necessary things which I had not been instructed to bring, but which experience had taught me the necessity of possessing.
We remained at this place during one entire day, and the next morning set off, intending to sleep at a hamlet, called Pai Paulo. We rested at mid-day near to a well, and in the afternoon proceeded. Wells are generally formed in these parts by digging a hole in the ground, to the depth of two or three feet, until the water appears; if a person in the neighbourhood of one of them, who takes water from it, should be nice about these matters, a fence is made round it, but if not, as is oftener the case, the well remains open, and the cattle come down to drink at it. These pits or wells are called caçimbas. The grass was much burnt up, but still there was plenty of it. In the afternoon we passed over some stony ground,—it was the first I had met with, and it was very painful to the horses which had come from the sandy soil of Pernambuco; but we soon entered upon a long though narrow plain, bounded by brushwood, over which the road was clear, and the grass burnt up entirely on each side. We overtook a white man on foot, with twelve loaded horses, and a very small poney which carried a saddle; the loads were all alike, each horse carrying two skins or bags of some kind of provisions. I was much surprised at the circumstance of this man having the management of so many horses, because generally, the number of men is nearly equal to that of the beasts. I observed that his horses began to spread upon the plain, and seemed inclined to take to the brushwood; I called to my guide to ride to the right, whilst I did the same to the left, and go in quickly between them and the wood, to prevent the animals from separating. The man thanked me, which brought on further conversation; he asked the guide where we intended to sleep, and was answered, “at Pai Paulo.” The wells at Pai Paulo, he told us, were all dried up, and the inhabitants had deserted their houses. What was to be done: he said, that he intended to remain upon a plain two leagues distant from where we then were, that no water was to be had there, but that for our party and himself, his slave would bring a sufficient quantity, who had remained behind to fill a skin at a well which we had passed. There was no alternative; to remain here was impossible, for there was no grass. Therefore I ordered Julio and his companion to let our horses and those of our new friend remain together, and to look to them equally. The slave soon joined us with the water, gave the skin to my guide, and went on to assist Julio, whilst I advanced very slowly, that I might have some more conversation with the owner of the comboio, or convoy, which we had thus joined. He was the son of a man of property, who resided upon the banks of the Açu, and possessed several cattle estates in those parts; the old man was a colonel of militia, and he with whom I conversed, was the major of the same regiment. The drought had been so severe with them, that they feared a famine, and he had been sent down to the coast to purchase farinha for the family, which the skins contained, with the exception of one load consisting of maize for his horses. After he had purchased his farinha he heard of the prohibition of the governor respecting it, and understood that a guard of soldiers was to be sent down to the lake to take it from him; he had, therefore, stolen a march, and that nothing might be suspected, he had left all his people, excepting this one slave, and had even left his cloaths. His saddle horse carried a heavy load, and he set off a day before he had intended; the animal upon which he had placed his saddle was a colt and too young to bear any further weight. Thus was this major, in true Brazilian campaigning style, in his shirt and drawers, his alpargatas or sandals, upon his feet, his musquet upon his shoulder, his sword by his side, hanging from a belt over one shoulder, and his long knife in his girdle. He was a stout, handsome man, about forty years of age, and where his skin was not exposed, it was as white as that of a European, but his face, neck, and legs were of a dark brown colour. This man, who at other times enjoyed all the comforts that his country affords, who was respected for his rank and wealth, was obliged to make this journey absolutely to save the lives of his family. True it is, that he is not to be considered as we should persons of his situation in Europe; like most of these people, he had been from his infancy daily accustomed to what men in a more civilised state would account very great hardships.
The alpargatas are pieces of leather, of a size rather larger than the soles of the feet of the person for whom they are intended. Two loops are fastened in front of each, through which two of the toes are placed; there is a ring of leather round each ankle, through which are drawn and tied two thongs, which proceed from each side of the hinder part. These are the shoes of the Brazilians, who live removed from great and improving towns. Julio was now provided with a pair of them, else I hardly know how he could have proceeded.
We halted at the place appointed, upon an immense plain; the grass was all gone, and even the hardy trees, the acaju and mangaba, seemed to feel the want of water, for their leaves had begun to fall. The two parties took up their stations under separate clumps of trees; but upon these plains, the trees scarcely ever grow sufficiently near to each other, to enable the traveller to hang his hammock between two of them. The poor horses were taken to a dell at some distance, to try to pick up what they could find, that had escaped the drought and the traveller. Our allowance of water was not large, and therefore we were afraid of eating much salt meat; we did not pass the night comfortably, for the wind rose, and scattered our fires, nor did we sleep much, and at four o’clock the horses were fetched to give to each of them a feed of maize. One of them refused to eat his portion.